Goodbye Rock Hill

by | Apr 7, 2023 | City Council, Developements, Developers, Fehmi Karahan, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics, Rock Hill

Ah! Spring! Spring is the most popular of the four seasons for obvious reasons.  It means warmer weather, more hours in the day, and more sunshine.  The buds are starting to show, early flowers are beginning to bloom, and the birds are singing a new tune.  Spring is a sign of new beginnings, it symbolizes life and how good always triumphs over evil, light over darkness, and life over death.  Hibernation has ended! It seems that many people in Frisco are starting to open their eyes, and many are expressing their concerns for the first time over what appears to be some questionable negotiations, developments, and deals throughout the years. The spring awakening always seems to be heightened when an election is on the horizon.

One of the most important aspects of Spring is baseball otherwise referred to as America’s National Pastime.  Dr.  Gerald Early, a Washington University Professor once said, “There are three things that America will be known for 2000 years from now:  the Constitution, jazz music, and baseball.  They’re the three most beautifully designed things this culture ever produced.”  From an immigrant’s perspective, he is right on point.   I remember the first game I went to after moving to America.  The sound from the crack of the bat, watching a player slide into home, eating a famous hotdog and relish, and trying to catch the foul balls that came our way.   Back in the day if you caught one of those balls you could turn them in for a ten-cent snow cone.   

In 1958, Damn Yankees hit the widescreen and it is one of the best musical sport romantic comedy films of its time.  It was about a frustrated fan of the hopeless Washington Senators who made a pack with the Devil to help the baseball team win the league pennant.   One of the most famous quotes from the movie was “One long ball hitter, that’s what we need!  Honest to God, I’d sell my soul for one long ball hitter!”  Mmh? Something about this story is hitting close to home.  Has someone in Frisco soul their soul to the devil?

Frisco has gone through many changes over the years and with each one a little bit of Frisco’s history seems to be erased.  The most obvious was in 2020 when the council considered renaming Rockhill Parkway.  Established in 1854, Rock Hill was one of the oldest communities in Collin County and earned its name from the white rock escarpment on which it was built.  By 1898, it had a thriving community featuring two schools, four churches a grist mill, a cotton gin, a blacksmith, a drugstore and a grocery store.  In 1902, St. Louis and San Francisco railroad bypassed the town and within months most of the businesses, townspeople and churches had relocated.  By the mid-1930s, only one African American Baptist church remained.  In the 1960s the black school closed and in 1973 the general store was razed leaving Rock Hill and its rich history a distant memory to many.  One of the last connections to its history was the street named Rockhill Parkway. 

On June 23, 2020, a letter was sent to residents informing them of the road name change and they could respond with any input by July 14, 2020.  Renaming  Rockhill Parkway to PGA Parkway hit a nerve with many locals who felt like the council was erasing what little history was left of the old town.  While doing research we came across an article in the Frisco Enterprise that reported in July 2020 that Assistant City Manager Ben Brezina acknowledged the name change had been a topic of conversation for at least 8 to 10 months.  John Lettellier of Development Services for Frisco said moving forward with the proposal happened in just the last 6 to 8 weeks.  The article also noted The Heritage Association of Frisco learned about the proposed change by way of a community member who received the notice and, they had never been approached by the city for its historical background.   Lastly the most interesting thing in the article was a statement posted on the Facebook page by then councilman Tim Nelson that the item was proposed by a member of the council and consensus was to move forward.  Hmmm… I wonder who proposed the name change?

Here is where it gets interesting, in our research we found that many who supported the name change were big businesses with big money and investments in Frisco:

  • Kyle Wilks – President of Wilks Development (who is behind Firefly Park in Frisco)
  • Edmund Garahan – CEO of Carbon Companies (building Luxury hotel near PGA)
  • Triad Frisco Partners (developer of 1310 urban living units, 8 retail buildings, 1 convenience store with gas pumps, 5 parking garages on the southwest corner of Dallas Parkway and Rockhill Parkway)
  • Fehmi Karahan – Fields Development (June 29, 2020 letter of support)
  • David Fogel – Manager of Rockhill Legacy (Development at Rockhill & Legacy)
  • Blake Nelson – Managing Partner (7-Eleven located Rockhill Parkway & Preston)
  • Darrell Crall – COO of PGA (letter specifically notes they feel strongly there is a long-term value to the PGA branded and the roadway would showcase to millions the PGA Frisco partnership and evolution of Frisco)
  • Michael Smith – TRT Holdings, Inc. (Part of Omni Stillwater Woods Golf Resort)
  • Fehmi Karahan – Fields Development (July 17, 2020 letter writes that the city has made an extraordinary financial commitment to the new PGA  project and should use all available means to support the success of that project.  We strongly urge you and the city council to support the full renaming of Rockhill from Teel to Coit)
  • Clay Roby – PGA Frisco / Stillwater Capital / The Link (the renaming will further establish Frisco as Sports City USA and appropriately showcase the HQ of the PGA of America)

On Aug 4, 2020, citizens made their way to the podium for Citizens Input to against the change.  If you watch the meeting, the mayor remarked that the city of Frisco has always made it a commitment to preserving our history and they even invested 3 to 5 million into the Heritage Museum.  He was on city council in 2009 when the road was changed to Rockhill Parkway but he doesn’t remember it and until a few months ago he does not believe many people even knew the story of why it was named Rockhill.  He believes Prosper ISD naming the their new high school in Frisco city limits Rock Hill Highschool is a great way to remember the community of Rock Hill.  Sadly, he seems to criticize the volunteers at the Heritage Museum for not being accurate on the history and calling the exhibits dated and we need to do better there telling our story.  He noted that the PGA and Fields wants to write their own story and they have been good partners to the community.   Councilman Woodard suggests renaming Northeast Park to Rock Hill Park he is willing to help get that done.

Today the only reminder that Rock Hill once existed is a historical marker located on the northeast corner of PGA Parkway and Preston Street.  The name change passed to PGA Parkway but the question is did it ever have a chance to be kept Rock Hill Parkway?  Almost every developer who wrote in support of the name change donated to the campaigns of several sitting on our council.  When Fehmi Karahan the King of Fields writes that the city should use all available means to support the success of that project and that he urges the city council to support the full renaming of Rockhill from Teel to Coit the city is going to do just that.  Cheney accepted over $30k in January 2020 from the big names on these letterheads and he needs that money to pay back his $99,000 personal loan that he took out for campaigning because as he said at the recent debate he is not an independently wealthy man.  Has Bill Woodard followed through on working on the renaming of Northeast Park?  Not from what we can see.  When Universal was recently in front of the council we heard each of them say that they listen to the residents and this is just another example where big money, big investments, and big companies take priority over residents.  Words can come from one’s mouth but actions are what matter.  That night a man said the citizens of Frisco are being exploited for money and by its actions that is the way it looks.   It’s time to bring change to Frisco in this upcoming election and the others in the future.  Maybe those sitting on the lofty hill have become too comfortable.  I ask you, has someone perhaps sold his soul?  I am reminded of the song  “Whatever Lola Wants.”  I would have to change the words up a bit and sing,

Verse 1

Whatever  Fehmi wants, Fehmi get

Whatever the PGA Frisco wants, the PGA Frisco gets

(Bridge)

I always get what I aim for

And your heart and soul is what I came for

Verse 2

Whatever Cheney wants, Cheney gets

Whatever the developers who come here want, the developers gets

(Bridge)

Don’t you know you can’t win

Your no exception to the rule

I’m irresistible, you fool

Give in (Give in, you’ll never win)

VOTE FOR PEDRO

by | Mar 24, 2023 | Elections, Politics

If you drive around Frisco on any given Saturday you will see youth sports teams playing on the soccer and baseball fields throughout the city.  Parents along with grandparents cheer on the kids while enjoying the nice weather and having fun family time.  Would it surprise you if I said there were more people on those fields, sidelines, and sitting in the stands than there are voters who show up to have their voices heard in city elections?  As of August 25, 2022, in Collin County, we have 72,427 registered Frisco voters and in Denton County, we have 55,106 registered Frisco voters.  You should be shocked that in a city with an estimated population of 218,314 people,  across both Denton and Collin County, we only have a total of 127,543 registered Frisco voters. This should SCARE THE HELL OUT OF FOLKS who call this city home. 

If you are a resident of Frisco who is registered to vote and you do not take the time or put in the effort to vote in local municipal elections, then you should be appalled and ashamed of yourself.  Coming from another country I can tell you that the most important right you have as an American citizen is the right to vote.  Originally under the Constitution, only white males over the age of 21 were eligible to vote.  In the 1920s women won the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Then in 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act which allowed African Americans the right to vote. Interesting side note, it was President Lyndon Johnson a white Texas Democrat who signed the Voting Rights Act into law.  In 1971, the minimum voting age changed from 21 to 18 years old because of student activism and the war in Vietnam.  Generations before you fought and some died so you would have the right to vote, so why don’t you vote?   

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” If Lincoln were alive, he would be shocked and probably disappointed to learn how many Frisconians turn their back on the fire and sit on their own blisters.  My favorite segment on some news and talk shows is the one where they send a reporter out to the streets to stop people and ask them a simple question, that 99% of Americans should know.  After hearing the question many looked lost, puzzled, and dumb founded before they throw out their answer.  The whole point of the tv segment is to show we have truly become dumb and chances are we are not smarter than a fifth grader.  In the spirit of fun let’s pretend I am the news host, and you are the street walker, ready to play?

In the Frisco General Election of May 2021, out of 127,543 total registered voters, how many turned out to vote at the polls?    A) 24,319   B) 850  C) 10,431  or D) 18,720

Which county turns our more voters in Frisco municipal elections?   A)  Denton  or B) Collin County

Alright, do you have your answers ready?  No cheating!  In May 2021 we had (C) 10,431 votes cast, the breakdown by county was Collin with 5,106 votes and Denton County with 5,325 votes.  That equates to a voter turnout of about 8.91%. Now, in a general run-off election, (B) Collin County has had more voters in the last five out six elections.  However, the script is flipped in a runoff / special election when (A) Denton County turns out more voters five out of five times. 

What if we told you that in March 2022 that out of 127,543 registered Frisco voters that a total of 4,912 votes were cast and that is about a 3.96% voter turnout.  It is the lowest voter turnout the City of Frisco has had since May 2016.  In fact, since May 2016 we have only had 4 elections with double-digit voter turnout percentages, the highest being 15.87%.   Which leaves 7 elections with single-digit voter turnout percentages, the highest being 9.14%.    Out of the four elections with a double digit % voter turnout, one was the November 2020 Trump vs. Biden national presidential election with a 78.15% voter turnout. 

Is your interest peaked?  Do you want to know more?  Take a minute and just look at the voter participation on the Frisco city webpage.  Voter apathy is a lack of interest among voters in elections and is one of the mail reasons for low voter turnout. Residents have lost the fire to fight because they don’t believe their voice matters and they believe they have no power to change the situation around us, but they do.  It is time to Vote for Pedro! The phrase Vote for Pedro is sometimes used in political protest as a way to express dissatisfaction with the candidates or the two-party system.  Pedro is a classic Spanish name derived from the Hebrew Peter meaning “stone” or “rock.”  There is a ground swell in Frisco right now and residents are starting to chant over and over and louder and louder each time, VOTE FOR PEDRO!  What they really mean is Dear God, let there be an alternative to what has been the corrupt norm of Frisco politics.  Ready for a shocking comparison?

If you paid any attention the last two months to the Universal controversy, you probably remember hearing about the “traffic study” paid for by Universal.  The famous phrase everyone latched on to was
“Universal will have less traffic than the new H-E-B grocery store.”  It said the park would only add 7500 cars/trips a day during the week and up to 14 to 20,000 cars / trips on weekend days. That means more people will come to Universal in one day versus the total number that have shown up to vote in a single election since May 2016.  Don’t believe me, well in general election of May 2018 we had a total of 7,144 TOTAL votes cast.  If you look at both the general and runoff elections together the highest voter turnout between both (minus the Nov 2020 election) was May 2017 when we had 14,186 total votes cast which is less than one weekend day of traffic to Universal if the traffic report is right. Let that sink in!

One of my favorite movies was Coming to America in 1998 with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall.  In one scene Eddie’s character (who is a prince) jumps out onto the balcony with Arsenio looking out the window at him.  He is excited to be in America to find a wife to be his queen.  From the balcony with his arms spread wide open, face filled with glee he yells Good Morning My Neighbors and in the background, you hear a voice awe F*#$ you, and Eddie’s character not knowing what it means yells back with a smile on his face and arms wide open, “Yes, Yes, F*%$ you too!”  Better yet the scene where he is walking home after dancing with the future queen, he starts to sing “To Be Loved” and jumps up on a light pole swings around, and continues to sing until he reaches the steps of his apartment.  We all need to find our inner Eddie Murphy!

It is time for us to take to the streets and start a revolution and chant VOTE FOR PEDRO!  Residents who have lost that fire to fight need to dig deep and find the furry again, then help get the word out that early voting starts in 40 days (give or take) and its time we use the powerful voice we have and cast a vote!  I hear it all the time from my generation, the youth today are screwed up, they have no concept of the real world, they want everything for free and finally they don’t know what a true day’s work is!  The harsh reality is that generation is the one who needs a good slap in the face because what example do we set for them when we don’t vote!  Truthfully we should be horrified and terrified regarding the rampant level of voter apathy in Frisco elections.

In 2023, it is clear residents are dissatisfied with representatives on both our city council and school board.    With elections right around the corner, we need to be spreading the word to friends and neighbors that is time to vote! 

Important Dates – May 2023 General Election

Last Day to Register To Vote – April 6, 2023 Click Here To Register

First Day of Early Voting – April 24, 2023

Last Day of Early Voting – May 2, 2023

Election Day – May 6, 2023

Lastly there is no time like the present, to look at the campaigns and candidates so we will start with the Mayoral Race and the incumbent, Jeff Cheney in our next blog.  

The Promised Land

by | Mar 13, 2023 | City Council, Community Development Corp, Developements, Developers, Economic Development Corp, Jerry Jones, Jerry Jones - Blue Star Land, Politics, The Star

Margaret Mitchell, the Author of Gone With The Wind said “Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything, for it’s the only thing in the world that lasts. It’s the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for..”  Mitchell was right which is why for anyone who resides here or immigrates here, it is considered the American Dream to own just a slice of the pie.

Now imagine it is 1987, your name is Dan Lansing and you are living on a farmstead that your grandfather and his descendants owned since 1906. You spent the day on the tractor like many other days and now you are relaxing when you hear a knock at the door of your farmhouse.  Is your first instinct to think this knock could change my life forever?  Probably not, but for Joe Lansing, the knock would change his life forever.  Standing before him was a woman who worked for the local film office, and she had been deployed to drive the dusty gravel roads in search of just the right eye candy when she spotted what she later would tell the film studios was the “holy grail!”  A white clapboard, two-story farmhouse nestled against a hillside with the iconic red barn nearby and plenty of cornfields.  Sue Riedel introduced herself and said she was a scout for Universal Studios and that they might want to come here and film a movie, would that be OK?   Lansing responded, “Are you crazy?”  That day changed everything for the Lansing farm located at 28995 Lansing Road. 

What would happen next is the Field of Dreams. Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can’t ignore as he walks through the corn fields doing a regular inspection.  “If you build it, he will come.”  Kinsella plows his field and builds a ballpark which will later save his family farm.  The final iconic shot of the film showed the ghost players emerging from the corn fields for a ballgame.  Dan and his wife Becky later sold the land for a rumored $5.4 million to Ballpark Heaven who wanted to turn it into a $74 million baseball and softball complex to draw tournaments from all over the country.  Even today, the mythical Field of Dreams has spawned thousands of people to visit Dyersville, Iowa every year and it is one of the top 10 attractions in the state.  The movie Field of Dreams changed life for the Lansing family forever and residents of Frisco would be surprised to learn that Dan and Becky lived in Frisco for a period after selling the Iowa property. 

Land in Texas is undergoing a fundamental change, one that has implications for rural economics, food security, and the conservation of water and other natural resources. Texas Land Trends reports that from 1997 to 2017 the Texas population increased by 48% which means we continue to see land loss as urban development takes over.  The land value of a piece of property includes both the value of the land itself as well as any improvements that have been made to it.  So many different factors can affect land value such as an increase in demand that exceeds the supply of land, if a movie is filmed on it, oil can be found under the soil, or because of nearby developments.  

Remember in our blog, Frisco, Are You Ready For Some Football we said to make a mental note of a land deal that took place in February 2019.   Remember the timeline, The Star was approved in August 2013, and the Dallas Cowboys moved into the new corporate headquarters and training facility with a 12,000-seat stadium in August 2016.  The following year in May of 2017, the city council approved 12 Cowboys Way, The Stars luxury high-rise community.  The Entertainment District at The Star held its grand opening weekend-long event in March 2018.   

In February 2019, the council had two agenda items before them relating to Jerry Jones and his Blue Star companies which included,

  1. Consider and act upon a contract of sale by and between Blue Star Land Phase III, LLC and the City of Frisco for the purchase of a 2.4933-acre tract of land.
  2. Consider and act upon a Chapter 380 Agreement by and between Blue Star Land Phase III, LLC and the City of Frisco related to the purchase of a 2.4933-acre tract of land.

First question, where is the 2.4933-acre tract of land?  If you drive up The Star Boulevard you look directly at the Tostitos Championship Plaza which replicates a football field and directly behind it you see The Ford Center a 12,000-seat stadium.  To the left of The Ford Center are the two practice fields that sit directly behind the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters.  Directly behind those fields is a 2.4933-acre tract of land (along Hall of Fame Lane) that the city owns and is allowing the Cowboys to use as a player’s parking lot only.   

Second question, what is the benefit to taxpayers?  According to Ron Patterson, President of the Frisco Economic Development Corp., the estimated value of the proposed future office building will be approximately $190,000,000. Blue Star Land committed to having the project done and ready to move into as early as 2021.  

Doesn’t sound like a bad deal right? Well, you have not heard the kicker yet which will talk about in our next blog after the Halftime Show. Stay Tuned!

House of Cards

by | Mar 7, 2023 | Community Development Corp, Developements, Developers, Economic Development Corp, Politics, Wade Park

Growing up my dad and his buddies would always have poker night in the basement that included cards, cigars, and liquor concoctions.  I used to sneak down the stairs to spy on them and was always intrigued by the deck of playing cards.  One night my dad told his buddies that a deck of cards is based on a calendar.  Fifty-two (52) cards represent fifty-two (52) weeks in a year and the card colors red and black symbolize night and day.  The four (4) suits represent the four (4) seasons. There are thirteen (13) cards in a suit to match the number of lunar cycles and twelve (12) court cards that represent the 12 months of the year.  A standard deck of cards has four suits: hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds and the original card suits were based on classes and can be traced back to France in the 1400s.  Suits include spades ♠ (royalty), clubs ♣ (peasants),  hearts ♥ (clergy), and diamonds ♦ (merchants). 

Once the night was over I would gather up all the cards and the next day I loved to try and build a house out of the cards. Then my brother would come by like a gust of wind and knock it over which always upset me, but I started over each time. House of cards is a metaphor for the instability of the inner workings of what appears to be the perfect partnership, structure, plan, institution, or organization.  In a house of cards, the inner workings are always weak, fragile and in constant danger of failure or collapse.  Watching Frisco grow, I have wondered are some of these developments too good to be true.  Underneath the pomp and circumstance are they just another house of cards?

In August 2014 a crowd gathered including Frisco leaders and officials from Thomas Land & Development for the groundbreaking of the $1.6 Billion, 175-acre Wade Park mixed-use development.  Excitement rumbled among residents when they learned the initial phase would be anchored by a Whole Foods store. Jim Newman, of Newman Real Estate, brokered the land deal for the project and he told the Frisco Enterprise that “having sold and developed land in this city for over 30 years, nothing in North Texas comes close to the future development.”  He went on to say it was difficult getting the Wade Family to sell the land but when they found a partner they could trust like Thomas Land Development they couldn’t be happier.  

In January 2015, the Frisco City Council, Frisco EDC, and Frisco CDC approved $122.75 million in incentives for infrastructure improvements which would be paid from revenue generated by the proposed development as the city collects taxes.  In return, Wade Park agreed to deliver a portion of the development by the end of December 2017. It wouldn’t be long before all that excitement started to dwindle when Frisco learned Thomas Land Development ran out of money and failed to secure additional financing.  Construction froze as contractors began placing liens against the development for unpaid bills and by early 2018 the future of Wade Park was up in the air and Frisco was left with a hole in the ground that locals nicknamed Lake Lebanon. 

Were any alarm bells that the city should have been concerned about so we could have possibly avoided the headache of Wade Park?  A simple google search into Stan Thomas, CEO of Atlanta-based Thomas Land Development is alarming.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported back in 2009 that Stan Thomas had three major projects in bankruptcy protection, and he narrowly averted foreclosure on The Forum Peachtree Parkway development in Atlanta.  He also had projects in London and Orlando that were virtually dead until he could find financing.  He had been sued by former partners and vendors for nonpayment and dozens of liens against him.  His company had gone from 750 employees down to just 50 employees.  Thomas had two other projects in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection which included The Rim in San Antonio, Texas, and Prospect Park in Alpharetta, Georgia. In 2019 a CBS news story pointed out that while Frisco city officials publicly expressed optimism for the project the I-Team had learned behind the scenes there were concerns early on.  They reported the developer Stan Thomas had a reputation for taking on massive debt to develop massive projects.   The report also talked about how Thomas had plans to turn a development in Sacramento into a multi-billion dollar development but it fell through when he could not pay his loans on the project. 

Again, we ask the question was the writing on the wall the whole time?  Could we have avoided the headache of Wade Park with a little more due diligence?  Was Lake Lebanon avoidable?  How do we avoid doing business with companies that are really House of Cards?  How many other projects are just another house of cards?  

Funny Side Note: While it has nothing to do with our story we wanted to share that in 2015, Universal Orlando acquired 475 acres of land for $27.5 million for a future Universal theme park.  But the previous landowner Stan Thomas (mentioned above) sued Universal claiming he still owned rights to enforce private deed restrictions.  The parties settled in April 2018 but it just shows it is a small world after all since now Universal is looking at Frisco.

Back to the point of our blog, we decided to investigate some other local developments and what we found should have Frisco residents concerned. In 2012 Forest Park Medical Center at Frisco Square opened.  The developer was Neal Richards Group which at the time had developed half a billion dollars of healthcare real estate.  At some point, the company kicked off its first physician-owned project called Forest Park Medical brand. NRG became collateral damage in a fraud scandal involving two of its co-founders who were among 21 people indicted in a $40 million kickback scheme that ran from 2009 to approximately 2013 and generated an estimated $200 million in revenue for Forest Park.  It is complicated to understand but to put it in layman’s terms, the hospitals were set up as out-of-network facilities which allowed them to set their own prices then shell companies were opened to funnel millions in bribes and kickback payments in exchange for patient referrals.  Make sense?

In 2018, Philip Carter, the principal of Texas Cash Cow Investments and North Forty Development LLC who had developed Preston at Wade Crossing was arrested. In November 2018 Carter was facing state fraud charges in connection with defrauding nearly 100 Texas investors out of $17.5 million and in May 2022 he was sentenced to 45 years in state prison. 

Then in September 2022, Tim Barton of JMJ Developments was indicted by a federal grand jury on nine felony counts, including securities fraud and wire fraud.  He is accused of defrauding Chinese investors out of $26 million and if convicted could face up to 60 years in prison.  JMJ Developments purchased 4.5 acres of land in 2020 from Invest Group Overseas (IGO), the master developer of The Gate in Frisco’s North Platinum Corridor.  At the time JMJ officials boasted how it would be “the tallest building in Frisco” and was set to open in 2024.  Barton sold the property in The Gate to Petra Development LLC in December 2022 for an estimated $9 million.

We could make our own movie and instead of calling it The Wolf of Wall Street, we should name it The Wolves of the Frisco or The Wolves of the Dallas North Tollway.  Are we the only ones who are curious why so many of the developments in Frisco are somehow connected to shady businessmen or developers?  Maybe we need to hold our city management and the developers they choose to do business with to higher standards so shady shit stops happening.  

Fields West Dynasty

by | Feb 17, 2023 | Cheney Group, Developements, Developers, Fehmi Karahan, Fields - Brookside North, Fields - Brookside South, Fields West, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Omni PGA Resort, PGA Frisco, Politics, Stillwater, The Link, The Preserve & Fields

I remember as a teenager sitting around the living room with my family once a week to tune in to our favorite family show Murder She Wrote. Jessica Fletcher played by Dame Angela Lansbury was not cocky, but she did know her own skills.  She knew to ask questions when she didn’t understand something and how to rely on others who may have the expertise in an area she didn’t.   My favorite thing she used to say episode after episode was “Now, I may be wrong, but frankly, I doubt it.” She taught me to be curious and to ask questions which is why once my interest was peaked I could not stop diving into what I believe is the Shady Shit happening in Frisco.

As I said in my last blog I had all these questions about how Mayor Jeff Cheney could represent Fehmi’s Fields lots and advocate for Universal at the same time.  In my humble opinion, there is a clear conflict of interest and that made me want to deep dive into Fields.  To start, you must understand that the PGA, The Link, and Fields are 3 separate world-class developments, but one would not have happened without the other.  Hunt is who identified and purchased the 2544 acres of land on the DNT.  Hunt has partnered with Stillwater Capital to do the PGA and The Link.  Hunt then announced its partnership with Fehmi Karahan (Legacy West Developer) to do the Fields West development.  Fields website states it will be home to restaurants, businesses, ten thousand homes, schools, parks, and open spaces.  It will also be home to the PGA headquarters and the University of North Texas.

Now we have identified two players in the Fields project: Hunt Realty Investments and Fehmi Karahan.  The investors are Chief Partners and CrossTie Capital, and the development team is led by KDC Architects.  Home builders will include Darling / Taylor Morrison, Britton / Perry, Highland Homes, Olivia Clarke, Shaddock Homes, Toll Brothers, and several more custom home builders.  Mario Sinecola & Sons will probably be doing the excavating and FCS Trucking will also be involved.  In a nutshell, there are a lot of players in the overall project.  So how does Jeff Cheney fit into this?

Let’s follow the social media trail. On October 13, 2022, the Cheney Group announced The Preserve at PGA was teeing off.  It went on to read the Cheney Group would be the Fields Experts. Just days later October 16th the Cheney Group released a video with Jeff Cheney presenting all things PGA. You can check it out on the Cheney Group YouTube Channel.  On October 17th Jeff Cheney led Monument Realty’s Roadmap 2023 event where they shared tips and tricks with top agents.  The same day on social media the Cheney Group released a video of the Championship Holes 14 & 15 the Preserve lots overlooking them.  On October 19th they announced they just got their hands on the first set of floor plans for Brookside South at PGA and they had several more upcoming builder meetings planned and could not wait to fill us in!  Fast forward to Nov 2nd Capital Title hosted a knowledge session for Realtors in North Texas at Stonebriar Country Club led by Jeff Cheney.  On Nov 8th they meet with architects involved at The Preserve to learn about the level of standards they would be bringing to the Preserve.  We could keep going but I think you get the idea!

Just following the social media trail, we are left with several questions. Does the Cheney Group have an exclusive to the lots?  If so, is that because they are a top-producing team or because Cheney is mayor, and when was the deal made?  The Monument Realty Roadmap Show was that for Monument agents only or were other agents outside the brokerage invited?  How did other brokerages in DFW learn about the PGA’s future homesites? Did other brokerages get to have exclusive sit-downs with the architects?  Can any agent go out to the 14th and 15th holes and take photos of The Preserve homesites overlooking the course?  Did other brokers and agents get their hands on the floor plans the same day as the Cheney Group or after? The Capital Title knowledge session that was held for local realtors, was the Fields representatives, home builders, and developers there, or was this led by Mayor Jeff Cheney or Jeff Cheney of the Cheney Group?  It makes me curious, why are other agents and brokerages not outraged by the exclusive access Cheney seems to have?

Just the other day I visited my favorite coffee shop and two agents sitting next to me were talking in low whispers about how they felt it was a massive conflict of interest that the Cheney Group has an exclusive.  I wanted to jump up and say, me too but I didn’t.  I just sat quietly with my head tilted back reading the paper and listening to them vent their frustrations.  I don’t fully understand if Cheney has an exclusive right to these lots but it is clear that the Cheney Group has a leg up on any other brokerage or realtor when it comes to the PGA which is one of the most notable developments to hit North Texas. If the Cheney Group does have an exclusive and he is profiting from his position and connections as Mayor then an argument could be made there is a serious conflict of interest and Mr. Cheney should recuse himself from all talks, votes, well anything that has to do with Fields West.  

Someone told me once “It would be better for us to have some doubts in an honest pursuit of truth than it would be for us to be certain about something that was not true.” So in my search for transparency, and the need to know the truth, I decided to file a PIR to obtain more information.  That is where I found some shady shit!